Tag: Comfort

What’s the Word Wednesday

Power, approval, comfort, and control are meta-idols that hold sway over our daily lives

– Timothy Keller, Founder of Redeemer Presbyterian Church and City to City. To find out more about Tim Keller, head to his site. 

Pull a part each of those words above. Power. Approval. Comfort. Control.  Each of us, or at least most of us, have struggled with these things throughout the duration of our lives. Power held through a position at work. Approval sought out by a family member that doesn’t see us. Comfort from not doing something that makes us a little uneasy. Control over our time and finances so we refuse to give. The truth is that God sees this. He knows this. He knows that we’re putting these things above Him. He knows that these thing hold weight in our lives and when the going gets tough, we turn to power, approval, comfort and control before we turn to Him. Get away, even for just a brief moment and reflect what you’re putting above Christ. Is it power? Maybe you are seeking out approval. Needing help getting out of your comfort zone? Does control have a tight grip? In Exodus it says that we shouldn’t have any gods before Christ. Nothing should take the place of Him in your daily walk. Figure out what you are replacing with God and get rid of it. He wants you to have peace and the only way to do that is to put Him first.

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It’s Time for a Walk

Want to get out of your rut?  Do something that you can’t do.  I don’t mean juggling, or touching your tongue to your nose, but something that is bigger than you are capable.  I just finished the biggest challenge of my career.  A four month, no instructions available, sink or swim challenge.

In my fairly new job, a lot of what I do is hire people.  Back in January, I helped hire 12 people here, another 18 there, even helped with hiring 40 at another location.  But in March, I was tasked with hiring 950 in 3 months for a major sporting event.  I had a team of 5 other people to help.  Three of them were interns just out of college, another was brand new, and the other less than a year of experience.  It was the blind leading the blind.  And after the first month, we had hired only 100 people.

In addition to the numbers not being nearly as high as they should be, there were many other obstacles.  Our internet connection was 2 weeks late, 8 inches of snow fell before the first night of work, none of the rental furniture arrived, and the house we had rented was infested with bugs.  Yes, infested.  We stayed a total of 3 hours in the house before I knew it was too much to overcome.  All of this and more, and not hiring near as many people as we needed; the first month was bad.

At the end of the second month, we had grown our number to 300, leaving 650 to hire in the last month.  Simply daunting.  We hustled, tried new things, worked 15 hour days, and at the end of it all we hired 810 people.  Not the goal of 950, but a good number.  And when it was all said and done, we were actually over-staffed during the entire event.

I would have never thought it was possible.  This project was far greater than anything I thought I could have done, but it was that constant push to do something more that caused my team and I to get the job done.

When you are feeling stuck, or predictable, or bored in your routine, find a new challenge.  It is like the time when the twelve disciples were in the boat and the storm came.  Jesus walked to them and called Peter out of the boat.  Something that was impossible, something Peter had no reference for, and was far bigger than what he thought he could accomplish.  But Peter stepped out and walked on water.  He did something great.

It’s time for you to get out of your boat.  The boat that brings safety and comfort may be the thing that is holding you back from doing the extraordinary.  Take the step.  Challenge yourself in what you know.  Be all that God has for you.  Be bigger than yourself and be incredible!

Written by: Dave Feltman. Dave is a search coach for Froot Group, a worship staffing and consulting company.